To the now frail actress Liz Dawn, 73 – wheelchair-bound due to ­emphysema – who looked forlorn at the loss of the man who had been her legendary on-screen partner and loyal friend for 30 years.

Her pale, strained face, framed in black, was visible evidence of what Coronation Street star Samia Ghadie was about to tell us in her moving eulogy: “Liz is devastated.”

She, along with Nigel Pivaro – the two actors who made up Bill’s Corrie family, the Duckworths – entered the church with scores of his real-life relatives and friends, to join a stellar cast of Street stars past and present. Stars who quickly became extras.

Because although the household name actors, from Bill Roache to Julie Goodyear, were out in force, they were outnumbered by crew members past and present, people who benefited from Bill’s charity work, and strangers who identified with his iconic working-class creation Jack.

In the tears of his inconsolable grandchildren, the sincerity of the stirring eulogies from younger cast members, and on the sad faces of the 700 mourners, the warmth for the memory of the man who played that ne’er do well was overpowering.

If you judge the true quality of a person by how much he’s loved then yesterday proved dad-of-two Bill was a giant.

Hundreds had queued two-deep in biting cold outside the Albion United Reformed Church at Ashton-under-Lyne, an hour before the service, to pay their respects to the man born William Cleworth-Piddington, 71 years ago in Manchester.

Three ­coach-loads of cast and crew arrived from the Corrie set after filming was stopped at noon.

They were joined by others who worked with Bill over the decades, like Johnny Briggs, Kevin Kennedy and ­Christopher Quentin.

The family was led in by his beloved wife of 50 years Ali, also in a wheelchair, and his family, including seven grandchildren, some of whom carried the coffin.

One of those bearers, Naomi, fought back the tears as she read a poem she composed on hearing the news of her grandad’s death at his holiday home in Tenerife on November 9.

When Samia, who plays Maria Connor, took to the altar to read her eulogy she struggled to stay composed.

She said: “He made me laugh so much that on ­occasions I’d be crying with laughter.

"He was wise, kind, honest, warm-hearted and had the most generous spirit.”

Video Loading

Video Unavailable

Click to playTap to play

The video will start in 8Cancel

Play now

But when she remembered her first scene with Bill she broke down, adding: “In my early days he was like a surrogate dad to me.

"He taught me how to be professional and good to others.”

And she spoke for a nation when she said of his on-screen marriage: “Jack and Vera were a truly unforgettable and formidable partnership, and I doubt we’ll ever see that again. Liz, I know, is ­devastated by Bill’s loss. He was so kind to her during her last filming days.”

She took a final glance at his coffin and said, on behalf of everyone who worked on the Street since the star joined as an extra in 1979: “Bill, we salute you.”

The service was relayed via ­loudspeakers for the hundreds who braved the cold outside, and you could hear a ripple of applause ring out.

Nigel Pivaro, (Terry Duckworth), followed Samia onto the altar with a single red rose and lavished praise on his screen dad.

He said: “There is a bit of Jack ­Duckworth in all of us men, ­frustration and thwarted ambition, you know the rest.

"But behind the character was the man. Bill’s huge generosity of spirit, his warmth, his wit, his patience, his wisdom.

"We will keep those qualities in our hearts. They will stay with us forever. That will be his lasting legacy.”

Final scene: Jack kissed the ghost of Vera (Photo: ITV)

Reverend Paul Stringer then told us about family man Bill.

He said of Ali: “You became Bill’s soulmate. You were his rock. In recent years you were Bill’s accountant, agent and pill-dispenser.”

That sparked laughter among the ­congregation. And Rev Stringer spoke of Bill’s involvement with charities, linking it to his health struggles.

He said: “As his heart surgeon told him on This Is Your Life, ‘I knew that Bill has a heart of gold because I have held it in my hand.’

“Bill was a humble man. He always used to say ‘I’m not a legend, I’m a leg-end.’”

A life-long smoker, Bill suffered from ailing health. He had a heart attack in 1976, followed by a stroke a year later and had a quintuple heart bypass in 1986.

He left Corrie in April 2010 to spend more time with his family.

Duckworth family: Jack, Vera and Terry (Photo: Rex Features)

Then came the most moving part of the service, when family photos of Bill were beamed on to a projector screen and we heard a rendition of him singing The Wind Beneath My Wings.

When the montage ended with a group family picture of Bill and Ali’s 50th wedding anniversary party earlier this year, tears flowed throughout.

As the coffin was carried out a mourner started to clap, and soon the church rocked with applause. Friends and ­strangers reached to touch the coffin.

As they did, the concluding words of Samia Ghadie’s eulogy sprang to mind.

“Thank you Bill, for bringing so much joy and happiness to millions for all those years.

"We love you, we already miss you and we’ll never forget you.”

Video Loading

Video Unavailable

Click to playTap to play

The video will start in 8Cancel

Play now

Bill Tarmey: A life on the Street

1979: Jack Duckworth makes Street debut at the wedding of Brian and Gail Tilsley. It took three years for Bill to be offered a long-term contract on the show.

1982: Taxi driver Jack has an affair with barmaid Bet Lynch.

1983: Joins a dating agency and tries to pass himself off as suave Vince St Clair. Bet tips off Vera and trick him into turning up at the Rovers Return.

1984: Jack in court on drink-drive rap.

1986: His lowest soap moment as he causes Rovers to burn down. Cellarman Jack used wrong fuses for pumps and it led to disaster.

1992: Bill is the subject of This Is Your Life with Michael Aspel when his former building trade mates join soap stars to celebrate his success. The show ends with Bill singing The Wind Beneath My Wings to wife Alma. Stars in the audience sob and the performance leads to a top 10 hit when he records One Voice with St ­Winifred’s School Choir.

1996: Jack and Vera take over Rovers as licencees after brother Cliff died leaving him £30,000 and they sold their home, 9 Coronation Street.

2004: He is turned into Ida Fagg to play in the pub ladies’ bowls team.

2005: Jack agrees to sell his dead body for cash to an artist who likes to paint stuffed humans, so that he can buy Vera a Christmas present.

2007: Duckworths celebrate their Golden Wedding anniversary with party at the Rovers.

2008: His beloved Vera dies.

2009: He starts relationship with fellow pigeon fancier Connie Rathbone, moving away from Coronation Street to live with her.

2010: Jack dies of non-Hodgkins lymphoma back at No 9 after a party at the Rovers Return to celebrate his 74th birthday.